Christmas Salad with de Puy Lentils, Beetroot, Walnut and Feta
Note: can be vegan without the feta cheese
For me there is nothing more delightful to see and savour on the table than a well thought out salad. A delicious substantial salad that is not an afterthought and can stand up on its own as a complete meal (which is handy for those of you are catering for vegan and vegetarians). This recipe is more about the how to rather than a step by step recipe.
When I have to cater for a crowd, I like to have a ‘base’ salad that is vegan, nut and dairy free, and I will serve on a separate plate the dairy or nut ingredients for those of you who like to have the jazzed up version. I also serve one to three alternative dressings on the side so everyone can choose and add his/her own. Trust me, this way I always manage to please everyone.
So the base of this salad is salad greens such as rockets, radicchio and few sprigs of herbs such as basil, parsley, dill, and fennel fronds. To make this salad substantial, I choose chilled cooked and sprouted de Puy Lentils (you can choose chickpeas or other lentils) and roasted beetroot (cubed).
For dairy side-ons, I like marinated (soft style) goat fetta or bufallo mozzarella, but remember once you add this to the main salad the dark red beetroot colour will bleed into the white colour of the cheese.
I always like different textures in my salad, so for crunch, I add activated and roasted (or dehydrated if you prefer) walnuts and pomegranate seeds but you can choose other nuts if you prefer.
Below are the two salad dressing recipes, one vegan and one dairy.
Salad, Christmas Salad with de Puy Lentils, Beetroot, Walnut and Feta
Ingredients
Roasted Beetroot
- 1 kg beetroot organic if possible washed, peeled and cubed
- Murray River pink salt flakes to taste
- black pepper freshly milled
- extra virgin olive oil enough to coat the beetroot
Vinaigrette with vincotto, balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil
- 1 part (volume) balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 part (volume) vincotto fig vincotto is delicious
- 4 part (volume) extra virgin olive oil
- Murray River pink salt flakes to taste
- black pepper freshly milled
Yoghurt Fetta Salad Dressing
- 1/4 cup thick greek yoghurt
- 75 g soft fetta cheese crumbled
- few sprigs fresh dill or fennel fronds chopped
- 3-4 tbs lemon juice to get the right salad dressing consistency
- Murray River pink salt flakes to taste
- black pepper freshly milled
Instructions
Roasted Beetroots
- Preheat your oven to 180C
- In a large bowl, coat the cubed beetroots with olive oil, salt and black pepper, taste to suit your palate.Roast at 180C for 15-20 minutes until the beetroot cubes started to caramelise. Cool to room temperature and chill in fridge if preparing ahead of serving.
Vinaigrette with vincotto, balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil
- Place all ingredients in a glass jar and shake vigorously before use
Yoghurt Fetta Salad Dressing
- Place all ingredients in a glass jar and shake vigorously before use or better still blitz using a hand held stick blender
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